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Thursday, March 23, 2017

SPRING BREAK - Day 4 - $20 Mall Challenge With The Kids

I surprised the kids this morning with a bit of a challenge for Spring Break Day 4!

They had just gotten up and I had already laid out 4 $20 bills on the counter...which they were all curious about, as soon as they saw them.

The kids are going to explain to you what the challenge is:

So I was totally HANDS OFF this morning!

That meant that they had to get completely "MALL READY" on their own.

I didn't help the girls with their hair.

I didn't help the boys with their outfits.

They had to make sure to have some way of keeping their money on them (without me carrying it in my purse or wallet), etc.

We headed to the mall and when we got there, they decided they wanted to scout out their "food options" first. So we browsed the "FOOD COURT" at the mall and they figured out, in their minds, what they were willing to spend on their lunches. Then we did a lap around the mall to see what sales, deals and specials were going on.

They were hungry around 11:15, so we found the perfect place to eat and I watched all four of them go up, on their own, and order & pay for their food. SO FUN! They did great, they budgeted wisely and they all enjoyed the lunches they bought by themselves. BEST LUNCH EVER!

Then we shopped!

We walked and shopped and walked and shopped!

I was SHOCKED! They were not sure how to spend the rest of their money.

Of course, the youngest was the FIRST to spend all of his money.

After his lunch (he had a slice of pizza & drink), he bought a ring/necklace from Hot Topic on clearance (that's my bargain shopping boy), some candy from the vending machine, a container of cotton candy from the Candy Store and a Star Wars figure from the Disney Store. I'd say, all in all, he did a good job SPENDING his $20.

He did have to borrow $.05 from his big sister in the end, for his last purchase, but he did great!

Next up, our youngest daughter spent her money.

She bought a chicken sandwich/french fries, and then she bought a cherry lemonade from Hot Dog On A Stick, she paid $2 to spend time in a Hurricane Simulator machine, she bought some candy out of the vending machine, she bought a Carmel Double Chocolate Apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and finally spent her last dollar on a machine that pretty much jacked her dollar (didn't work right).

Our oldest daughter, was tight with her money!

She wanted something to show for it. She bought her lunch (a chicken sandwich), she proceeded to not spend another cent until our "third" trip into Forever 21.

She bought a pair of Aviator sunglasses and a pair of summer shorts.

She was pretty proud of her purchases.

Lastly, our oldest son enjoyed his mall trip and time with NO Video Game/ PHONE in his face!

He bought a Subway Sandwich for lunch with a drink, he bought himself a gumball from the vending machine, he played a couple $1.00 games (didn't win anything), and finally, he purchased a COKE on the way out of the mall.

He left the mall with $10.00 left in his wallet from our day trip and a smile on his face.

OUR DAY was SO FUN!

The kids really enjoyed having the freedom and the responsibility of making sure they ate well and they budgeted & spent their money the way they wanted to. They actually got along fairly well, considering we probably made about 8 full laps around the mall and we were there for over 3 hours, and there's four of them.

I'm PROUD of them and glad we got to spend Spring Break Day 4 like this!

I was not paid to feature this post! I was not compensated in any way by posting about my idea to get the kids out of the house today, nor any of the stores or items we bought.